Yes, I know, wrestling is fake. No matter how much certain fans may protest, professional wrestling isn’t real, it never has been and it never will be – and most importantly, it’s not meant to be. Roland Barthes described professional wrestling in Mythologies as a “spectacle of excess”, concerned with entertaining the crowd and suspending disbelief with larger than life characters acting out universal concepts of good and evil, of “suffering, defeat, and justice.”

The ‘Golden Age’ of wrestling in the 1980s and early 1990s largely followed the rules set out by Barthes – the virtuous babyface (good guy) would overcome the odds to defeat a cunning, despicable heel (bad guy). This narrative pretty much summarises the entirety of Hulk Hogan’s run with the WWF as he defeated Sgt. Slaughter, André the Giant, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, and Macho Man Randy Savage to restore American pride and save the day.

As the 1990s wore on though, audience apathy set in, as fans no longer wanted a simple moral binary, but instead sought more developed characters and storylines. This saw the establishment of the ‘Attitude Era’ within the WWF and a similar focus in rival promotions; ECW and WCW on more edgy, provocative, and adult-oriented stories featuring stars such as Stone Cole Steve Austin, Bret Hart, The Rock, Sting, Triple H, Kurt Angle, and Mr McMahon. The Attitude Era marked the zenith of professional wrestling, with critically acclaimed storylines such as Stone Cold vs. Mr McMahon pushing wrestling once again into public consciousness and cementing McMahon’s status as one of television’s greatest villains.

Today, the WWE has once again evolved, incorporating the storyline-heavy elements of the Attitude Era with an innovative style of in-ring performance. The improvement in the company’s in-ring style can be attributed to the influx of wrestlers from the independent scene such as CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, and Kevin Owens. They have altered perceptions of what it means to be a wrestler – moving the WWE away from a fixation on large, muscular, and often immobile men to smaller in-ring technicians, capable of putting on stellar matches.

Similarly the company’s attitude towards women has changed. Once merely there for decorative purposes – either as valets or wrestling in embarrassingly short matches – the women of WWE have seen more opportunities than ever with Sasha Banks and Charlotte headlining the ‘Hell in a Cell’ PPV in a steel cage match, while Banks fought Bayley in a critically lauded 30-minute Iron Man Match at NXT TakeOver: Respect. While there is undoubtedly still a long way to go for the WWE, it is difficult to think of any mainstream sport (bar perhaps MMA) where women are able to compete in the main event, ahead of men.

This wrestling revolution should not solely be put down to the WWE. It’s the result of other promotions such as New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), CMLL, Ring of Honor, and PWG. Even the UK has seen a growth in the domestic wrestling scene, with WCPW, ICW, Progress Wrestling, and Evolve providing a platform for the next generation of British wrestlers as well as showcasing a wealth of international talent. The quality of both the wrestling and production in these promotions has improved exponentially, with the match between Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 11 receiving an unprecedented 6 stars from the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, while Lucha Underground was nominated for an Emmy in 2015 – a testament to the promotion’s phenomenal production, courtesy of executive producer Robert Rodriguez.

Likewise, women’s wrestling has seen a massive growth in its global profile, with dedicated promotions around the world including Shimmer, Stardom, and Pro-Wrestling: EVE giving women the opportunity to escape the regressive and dated notion that women’s matches are simply toilet-break matches. Women are also making their mark on mixed promotions. Lucha Underground’s mixed-gender matches have drawn great acclaim, as did the decision to give the Lucha Underground Championship, the company’s main title, to luchadora Sexy Star at Aztec Warfare III.

Since Barthes wrote Mythologies, professional wrestling has morphed and developed into something else entirely. While it still maintains its absurd, theatrical, and performative elements, wrestling is no longer simply two men fighting out in a battle of good vs. evil. From the ultra-realistic, hard-hitting ‘strong-style’ of Japan to the incredible athleticism of lucha libre and the carnage and destruction of hardcore wrestling, the world of professional wrestling is more diverse and accessible than ever before whilst still remaining as absurd